Reenforced plunger and method of making same



20 Was constructed ofa solid clay body vand` it quite. frequentlyhappened' .that the'- lPatented July 12, 1927'.

UNITE; l sr ALEXANDER 'L 'sonlltelvr,.''or'` HrLLsDoRo; r'LrQNo-Is,Assenonlrof; DADnBnoTHER/sf ooMrANY, .or Muttern INDIANApa,oonlonamronor 1`1\TDIA1\U.L.`

REENFQBCEDPLNGER AND METHOD' .or MAKI'NGSA'MET Application filed'Inne14, 1925` 4Serial No.' 115,871.

My invention relates to'improvements in ree-nforced; plungers and methodof making saine7 and has for its primary object' ar lplungerV for glassfurnaces which is reen'.-

` forced in sucha manner that theA danger of the saine breakingismaterially lessened.

A further objectisto construct av plu-ngerfor glass furnaces which isreenforced ini such a mannertha-t in the event of the plunqg!v 10 erbreaking-tlieA parts Willinot separate anch aiporti'onthereof drop intothe molt-en. glass; A still .further object is the method `'of' makingreenforced plungers in which a` metallic reenforcement is placed, in theinterior of amplunger' andi in Such.. a manner; that a spaceisiprouidedi around) the reenforcement' so that it can expand under theheat-with-` out dangerv of cracking or ruiningthe` Y* plunger.. 1

Her-etofore 1n. glass furnaces; the plunger plungerivould brealgt-helower' partthereof fallinginto the furnace.: It iva'sthen necessary'toopen up the` furnaceand-fishv out the vbroken. end of the:plungeirbefore the operation of ythe furnace` could-again be resumed.This 'consumed great length', of'tiine because the. glass formingmachineA V30 would have to be stoppedtilrebootopened'4 n tu'p; theplungerfmechanism -movedfout of the Way, and' then considerable time.v`would; I.be-lost? fishing Iaroundain the molten: Aglass `With tongs tofretrieve the broken end, fall- .f of'lthis vusually requiring aboutione'hour'. 'i Di'iringftli-istime the' glass ine-thebootwbe'efcanie'chilledjto such" an extent'tlrat it would'.v

i not, 'make commercialV -Ware and therey would".

bey at leastl another' half hourl lost restoring i the glass to itsproper' temperature so. that- *1 oommerciah .Ware coulidr'agafinwbe-g-Wmade:

thus a broken plunger' Wouldmean. thei'loss' f of at least an hour anda. half in the production of" commercial' vvare'together with 4i theloss of time of the operators of the machine. f

With my improved plug this isobviated because the reenforcement is VsoVconstructed Vthat should the plug break, it Will not fall y downwardinto the glass lfurnace or boot and it can be readily removed in itsentirety and a new plug placedv in 'position Without interrupting theflow of glass fronrtlie boot Vand in a very short period of time.

VIn the dra-Wings:

for-mjofieenforcement;

Fig. l isI a sidevieiv. of' my plunger 'shows ing the-sanie'secured inthe harness;

F 2 VVis a lverticallongitudinal sectionv of the `plunger `showing thereenforcement .ini position;v y ..7 j 1 F v4'fis` a fragii'iental`Viewof one form;4 of the'reenforcement;y portion thereof'harvf ing a.coating thereon.; L I Y'.

Fig. .f4 is' a' fragmental View' of 'another Fig. 5" is another formy ofreenfor'cem-ent with all portionJ thereof in f' section.r showing thecoating; f f" f Fig;r 6 is anoenl'argefd fra'ginentalview of a portion`off'a plunger whenvfrst moldefdi showing the Acoating surroundingv the:reenforcement; and14 Y f Fig. Z plunger after the rsame .hasbeenheatedand the coat-ing destroyed;bringing out .the eX- pansion spacearoundthe reenforcing' mein; ber, i

-Ini the construction `of my devicefzl'femg ploy` a plug This'` plug is`adapted .tol hav-o .itsvupwardi end-secured inthev harness1 Which isillustrated in l. f The plunger 'is formed: 'off'..iire-.clay or"other-'refractory',, y

may beused;4 y .'fliezf-reenforeing member. l0'

is preferably `formedA of: feast .iron .as it: Will: :t

not change its ehaperunderzheatlikeWrought iron or'steel." 'ln otherivordsgrcast iron vvil.l-. not becoine'ffinalleable:'when subJeoted y*toheat. The rr'aenforcementV l'is provided: kwith ay coating Thiscoating-@may bef'of'various materials, Oneway/toalpplyLth-isrcoating'beingf'lto: dip thegreenfor'ced meinber in* 'l an7adhesive ,and` their roll it in "sawdust;I or. f Y

it finay be coetedmvith pai;affii-re:orsomeothery material,'Whichwwhenrheated Will melt.and?-` be absorbed by the bodyof thel plunger. Thiscoating is made lsuiliciently thick to.

take care of the expansion of the reenforoing member when the plunger isin use as becomes intensely heated and, vif a. space were not suppliedaround theV reenforcement to take care of this expansion,V there Wouldbe a tendency to crack the plunger because there Would be no AWayinvwhich this eX- pansion could beabsorbed. v

It Will be noted particularlyy thatthere` Vfrom each other.

are provided with a coating 16. It is my inenforcement not only extendsvertically in the plunger butI also laterally so that should theplungercrack at any'point, it will always V'have a support below the cracktoprevent the ltwo parts from separating.v

In Fig. 4 'I'have illustrated a reenforcing member 12 which is ,in theform of a helix tention also, if the form shown used, to give it acoating. v

In manufacturing my plungerit is made in the usual manner, that is it isfirst molded inl Fig. 4 is lin halvesl and whileV plastic the two halvesare brought: together and firmly adhere to each other. With myconstruction the reenforcing member is placed in one of the halve-s insuch amanner that its outer edges will f not extend through the edge ofthe finished plunger. The clay is then placed in position in that halflof the mold so that the reenforc-r ing member will be imbedded halfway,the

otherhalfA of the plunger is then formed over this half and, when'theclay has set suflliciently, the mold is removed and the plunger driedand then placed in a kiln for burning. Of course previous to placingthereenforcement in Vtheclay, it has-been provided With-its coating asbefore described.

The plunger previous to use is placed in any ovenwhere it is heated sothat it .will

not chill the glass when placed in position 40Y and valso to eliminateany possibility of the plungerL being .shattered when introduced intothe molten glass because in that instance the change in temperaturewould be extreme andA the rapid expansion cause the plunger '-1 toshatter. During this preliminary heating lthe coating around thereenforcement isr I destroyed. f In the eventfsawdust is used, it

is consumed orv burnt up andwhen paraffine or similar material 'is used,it will melt and be absorbed into the plungeror rather that partimmediately surrounding the reenforcement. At all events after theplunger has Y been'heated,a space 17 surrounds the reenforcement. It isessential, of course," that rial of which the plunger is composed. It

will be noted that the reenforcement is to be completely covered withthis coatingso that expansion can take placel in all directions. It isalso preferable to make-this coatingof such ar thickness that when thefullest` expansion of the rcenforcing member has taken place, it willjust fit snugly within ythe space left after the destruction of thecoating. z

I have also discovered that it very `frequently happens on accountof-the viscosity of the glass that when the plunger is raised,

the glass will be suliicientlystiff to tear apart Y the ordinary plungerthus causing the one part' to remain inthe glass and necessitating` theremoval as before described. By the use of my reenforceinenth0wever,ithis tearingV apart of the plunger isl entirely obviated sincethe reenforcement will prevent this. V

Having fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. A plunger forglass furnaces compris' ing a reenforcing member, a destructible coatingsurrounding said reenforcing member, and a relatively thick claybodyentirely surrounding said reenforcingamember and coating. s 'f f 2. Themethod of making reenforced plungers which consistsin covering ametallic reenforcing member withv a destructible coating, surroundinglsaid reenforcement `with a body of plasticrefractory material,"

coating of .sufficient thickness to compensate for `the expansion ofsaid reenforceinent when subjected to heat, lsurrounding said coatedreenforcement with a bodyr of plastic ,lic ,reenforcing member withadestructible` Y refractory material, drying said plunger Y thus formed,and lastlyfheating said plunger.

so as to destroy. said coating.

Intestimony whereof I have affixed my.

signature. f'

ALEXANDER L; soriRAM.

